Midland World War II veteran remains humorous, upbeat at 91

Published 5:04 pm, Sunday, May 30, 2010

Photo: Tim Fischer

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Midland World War II veteran remains humorous, upbeat at 91

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Pascual R. Gonzales, 91, cupped his hand like he was holding a grenade one recent evening, whisked his other arm over to pull the imaginary pin and shifted his body forward to signify his attempt at an accurate throw of the explosive.

Without missing a beat in his tale, the World War II veteran said he had been volunteered for a demonstration while serving in Hawaii following the Pearl Harbor bombing and was told to throw a hand grenade into a nearby hole in the ground without causing harm to himself or those watching.

"I said, 'Well, I hope we don't get killed,'" Gonzales said, laughing as he recalled the event.

The weapon eventually hit the hole, causing a bit of a scare to Gonzales at first, he said, and teaching him his eagerness to volunteer for new duties wasn't always in his best interest.

"I was volunteering for everything. I wanted to learn something," Gonzales said, chuckling before he continued. "I learned a lot of things ... some of them I never wanted to learn."

Reflecting on his service prior to Memorial Day, Gonzales said that in the small Texas town of Hinds in the 1940s, having a desire to serve his country was less about the honor and duty that he later learned of and more about making his way in the world.

"The reason I wanted to be in the Army was because I wanted to get a big check," he said, adding that he was furloughed and released from service before he ever got to that level.

After listening to his stories and watching him work hard to provide through various jobs, his daughter Viola Gonzales said, his family knows the Army ended up meaning much more to Gonzales than simply a pay stub.

"We know all of his stories by heart," said his daughter Viola Gonzales, with whom Pascual Gonzales lives in Midland.

In the Army now

Gonzales said he left school after fourth grade because his family needed his help on the farm.

"I learned a lot of things, but I never finished school," he said.

The first time he thought about enlisting came after he encountered a group of soldiers near a ball field in his hometown.

"I asked the sergeant, and said I would like to go into the Army," Gonzales said.

After learning Gonzales was just 16, though, the sergeant informed Gonzales his parents would have to sign a release for him to join -- something his "mama" wasn't about to do.

Later, as one of many young men who had received a draft card, Gonzales' number was called.

"I didn't know anything about the Army," he said. "I had seen it in the movies."

He took a bus to a Texas base and, along with about 28 other men, was examined by a doctor. Following the first physical, Gonzales said he was told he didn't qualify, that his heart seemed out of sync.

Not contesting the story, Pascual Gonzales said he and his friends did like to go out. Having come in around 2 a.m., he said, he was still influenced by his previous evening of spirits during the exam and convinced the doctor to let him have another try.

He was sent to San Antonio, told to sit in a chair at another medical office and waited for the results after fessing up to his activities and being looked at again.

"He said, 'Mr. Gonzales, you're in the Army now,'" Gonzales said, repeating the words of the doctor after he re-entered the room that day.

He was quickly shipped to Camp Roberts, Calif., and eventually to Honolulu, Hawaii, as part of the 156th infantry.

Arriving after the Pearl Harbor attack, he said, they were sent in groups on 30-day stints to various islands to seek out remaining Japanese who might be remaining in the area

As months passed, Gonzales said, the Japanese started running out of supplies and would even jump in their trucks during the day hoping to be fed later.

"In the end, they were running out of food and ammunition," Gonzales said.

It was during those missions that Gonzales received his Purple Heart -- a commendation his granddaughter Beatrice Ruiz, also a veteran, said most of his family didn't know about until recently.

"Just a few months ago, after asking him for his medals and ribbons to finally make a military shadow box for him, he hands me something that I never expected: a Purple Heart," Ruiz said via e-mail. "Never in 41 years did he ever mention this to me or most of my other family members. There and then, I had the utmost respect and honor for him for being wounded in combat."

Gonzales said he had been climbing a hill when Japanese soldiers opened fire on his division, injuring several and shooting near enough to him to create an explosion in his face that damaged his eyes.

"They put me in the hospital about 30 days," he said, adding he would help nurses with cooking and other duties since his eyes were mostly healed before they released him from care.

Coming home

After about four years with the Army, Gonzales said he was sent home.

While he was away, Viola Gonzales said, his mother passed away. Because communication was so slow at the time, he didn't learn of the news until much later.

Needing work, Gonzales later moved to Big Spring to farm with his brother and dad and then migrated to Midland after meeting his wife while she was working in her family's restaurant in Stanton.

Together they had four daughters and one son. His wife passed away about eight years ago. Now the lone elder of the family, Gonzales said he's often surrounded by his kids, as well as his 10 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.

His story, Ruiz said, is one they hold dear in their own family but also one they hope others can enjoy because Gonzales is one of a dwindling number of area World War II heroes remaining.

There were 16 million surviving veterans when the war ended, and it's estimated only about 2 million remain, according to the National World War II Museum. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates more than 1,000 are dying each day.

"On this Memorial Day holiday, we need to take a moment in prayer to thank God for our country, to thank God for our freedom, but most of all, to thank God for our soldiers," Ruiz said.